religion Archives - Page 9 of 12 - Lisa Colón DeLay | Spiritual Formation and the Way of the Desert Elders

Guest Post-by Veron Graham "Writing: An Act of Prayer?"

I invited my friend Veron, the author of exploretruth.com, as a guest writer here. He’s not just a talented writer, he’s an insightful man who translates vital concepts we should take in and absorb.

Enjoy this honest, and helpful contribution about what he has done when prayer has become difficult. This type of prayer exercise can be done when it’s hard to be verbal, or just to freshen up your time alone with God. Give it a try. I’ve enjoyed the practice too.

Writing: An Act of Prayer?

-Veron Graham

They swarm like drunken bees. Disjointed and restless having lost their motivation and focus. With thoughtful pause I point the pen, the swarm now threatening to coalesce around a single thought, emotion, or heart felt longing; like the only drop of honey in a dry expanse of nothingness and silence.

Thoughts sometimes struggle to shine in our confused states of darkness. Of doubt. Like one candle in the dark, I’ve struggled to whisper into this darkness. And if you’re anything like me you have as well.

Some days go better for me than others, but mostly I’ve struggled to utter words to a God who at times I didn’t fully understand, and just reverted to mumbling variations of childhood prayers that allowed me the comfort of remaining on the surface, never plunging the depths of truth and genuine connection with God.

True prayer has always been hard for me. I’ve only now begun to see how revolutionary an act of faith really talking to God truly is. To be quite honest, as of late, I haven’t really been praying. Not in the traditional sense anyway. I’ve been suffering some guilt about this, and the fact that Ive recently begun writing is the only balm that has sustained me, and given me a possibly different perspective on the subject of prayer.

So what exactly is Prayer?

Wikipedia defines prayer as:

“The act of addressing a god or spirit for the purpose of worship or petition.[1] Specific forms of this may include praise, requesting guidance or assistance, confessing sins, as an act of reparation or an expression of one’s thoughts and emotions. The words used in prayer may take the form of intercession, a hymn, incantation, words of gratitude, or a spontaneous utterance in the person’s praying words. Praying can be done in public, as a group, or in private”.

It appears that there can be more than one way to express thoughts and emotions. More than one means to reveal what burns in our hearts. And thats comforting. Like a million varying classifications of flowers raised heavenward to their life source, it seems to me, that we to can raise our voice, hands, or lives in whatever medium speaks, and opens our hearts to Divine wisdom.

So Why is Prayer so Hard for some?

In a world full of distractions and complexity, I’ve realized that focusing the mind and concretizing my thoughts can be difficult, far less for the thoughts I have towards God. Make no mistake, I possess the yearning to connect to the divine, and desire to experience more of a real connection. To wrestle with the unknowns in my life. But sometimes the faith feat of articulating and communicating my thoughts to a less than tangible concept of God can seem abstract, prove difficult, and sometimes feel pointless.

As of late, I have found that the act of writing my spiritual journey, to be a powerful act of reflection, contemplation, meditation, prayer, and maybe even praise. Grappling with the bedrock of human existence, the why’s of life, the unresolved questions I have, doubts, and fears, all can be given proper voice, in the visible form of the written word.

Our prayers, becoming statements of faith, and even of doubt. Lord, I believe, and please help my unbelief. All nakedly and honestly expressed on paper, where we can both remember from where we’ve come, where we are, and petition to participate in where we understand God to be going. It allows us to plot our stages of growth, bolstering and transforming theory into a real, tangible and experiential spiritual life.

“I love the LORD, because he hath heard my voice and my supplications. – Psalms 116:1”

Find what works for you!

Writing has allowed me to penetrate the facade that much of life’s distractions can cultivate. For you it may be another creative outlet. I was talking to my mother, who happened to just start a womans small group at her home. She was describing to me what she called a prayer basket. She creatively collects all the things that she needs in order to pray or spiritually connect with God. “I have my prayer journal in there, along with a pack of cookies”, she said, smiling. I imagine each basket will be as unique as the thumbprints of the ladies in her group. I think that if nature is any indication of Gods creativity, it leads me to appreciate the plethora of genuine expressions and communication styles from his children.

Thank you, Veron. Many more great things by Veron are here.

Standing Stones-A meaningful spiritual practice

Standing stones in a jar as a spiritual practice

When I first spoke about remembrance stones, or Ebenezer stones, a visitor friend of mine wrote this:

I also have small “alters” of stones in my house…up in jars. They are written on with a sharpie pen. I write one or two words down when I have a breakthrough, or a praise. When people come to visit, they ask about the stones and I can tell them that “good things happen here”. I take that from the Bible. Whenever there was a victory, as you probably already know, they use to build an alter…so that when people came by, they would see, know and remember.

This visitor’s practice of erecting contemporary “standing stones” helps her remember God’s goodness, mighty works, and faithfulness in her life. It can help her tell her story. It’s wonderful to have a visual reminder, also, because we can too quickly forget God’s work when we hit troubling times, or get too busy.

The practice of using stones as a memory device goes WAY back. For a brief devotional or your own research, look up the Scriptures of Joshua 4:9, and I Samuel 7:12.

Consider trying this practice for yourself. The materials are easy to find, and when you go through your jar and reflect on what’s inside as you are alone with God, or with someone else, you’ll be reminded of God’s faithfulness, and goodness.

My Stinky Stones

I just mailed off my 1st Ebenezer Stone, (help stone) and 18 spiritual practices/remembrance ideas to use with it for a more enriching walk with God, and awareness of his presence in everyday activities.

To get yours, or better grasp what in the world I’m talking about, just read the info., and see my awkward video clip on the Ebenezer Stones page.

By the way, each stone smells fantastic! I just said “stinky” for alliteration purposes. :)

How do we decide things?

Many of us weigh the decisions we make against the consequences that may happen. For instance, a financially desperate person might say, “I need money, but if I rob a bank, I’ll surely get caught.” A person with a more developed sense of morality may instead reason, “I need money, but that money is not mine to take.” Either way, some kind of assessment of right and wrong takes place, or at the very least pragmatics, which is the determined usefulness, or useful outcome of a particular action (like robbing a bank.)

Pragmatics gets down into the everyday choices, and can be the default setting for our choices. It’s like a common denominator. But really it’s not very good ethics that drives those kinds of decisions. Instead it is only the perceived consequences at the wheel, steering the choice. While it may seem practical to decide something based on whether it will help or hurt, or be useful or not useful, there is a glaring flaw in this method.

What is it? Simply put, we can never truly know the actual consequences of our choices, or their ramifications which lay in the future. What may seem helpful, can hurt many, instead of help. Or, sometimes certain people are helped, while others suffer greatly. History is quite full of these sorts of examples, and we continue to repeat them.

We can abandon a foundation of pragmatics, (the consequential, illogical, ad hoc reasoning method of decision making) by choosing from an altogether better starting point. God. It sounds so simple, but I will not say it is. But, what I refer to is the ultimate ideal, outside ourself–perfection. (Think: Socrates’ model)

The reference of God “himself,” and the nature and Standard of our best choices actually resides in and with God. The best values, the best and most perfect way–that is the way of God. More than that, it is how reality is grounded. God is the ultimate reality. Yes, we won’t measure up. In about two seconds we won’t, to be honest. However, this is not the reason to head for pragmatics, and assume The Good is not possible, a worthy choice, or viable for a standard–or at least the aim, of our own choices. It is the goal of each of us to decide to not choose for ourselves, or for the consequence alone, but for what is the ultimate Good.

Weigh-in with your take, or insights. I realize this particular post is a lofty one. Yes, and idealistic!

ALSO-Please help me spread the word about this website. I would love to have more regular readers. Many thanks to those who’ve read today!

Artwork – Trinity (Holy Bible Mosaic)

This is a peek inside the NLT Holy Bible: Mosaic to one of the many beautiful artworks published inside. I was really drawn to this one. It’s of Jesus at his baptism, where the Trinity was recorded as all being present. (Visually, Audibly, and in the Incarnation of Jesus)

Perhaps this image could be used in your time with God, as you reflect on the gift of the Incarnation, in whom the Father was well pleased.

Leave any reflections you have.